Whiplash Cure

A lot of us may have experienced driving. Or if not, perhaps you have ridden a vehicle then. Normally when you drive, your head is in the same position as your body. But if it unfortunately happens that the car you’re driving or riding on gets rear ended by another vehicle, it causes you to forcibly lean forward. And as you put a sudden stop to your car,the event causes your head to jerk backward to bounce against the headrest. A few days later you experience a certain pain in the neck. This condition is called ‘Whiplash’.

Whiplash is a term used to describe neck pains following an injury. It is when the soft tissues of the neck are injured with the motion done during the accident. The name came from the action jerking or whipping of the head during the accident. Whiplash is not only a result of vehicular accidents, but it’s also frequent in sporting activities, accidental falls, and riding amusement rides such as roller coasters.

Symptoms of Whiplash
Following the injury, you may experience pain and stiffness along the center area of your neck. Some people feel better afterwards, but the pain comes back in a few days or so. You may have developed a whiplash if you experience the following: neck pain and stiffness, headaches, pain in between your shoulders, lower back pain, numbness in the arm or hand, dizziness, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, difficulty concentrating or remembering, irritability, sleep loss and fatigue.

Preventing whiplash
As they always say, “prevention is better than cure”. Here are two major ways you can avoid experiencing whiplash:
a. Always wear your seatbelt and adjust your headrest according to your height when driving. Make sure than the middle part of the headrest is at par with your ears. This is most likely the correct height of your headrest.

b. Children and babies can also experience whiplash injuries by excessive shaking (babies who experienced shaken baby syndrome is known to have experienced whiplash) and violence.

Treatment
If you have already acquired the whiplash, the best first aid you could do to relieve the pain and reduce inflammation is to apply an ice pack to the neck for 20 minutes each hour for the first 24 hours following your injury. Take also medications for pain relief if the condition worsens and starts to be more painful. Do not hesitate to see your doctor so he/she could advise you on further steps that you can do to treat whiplash.